Cole Scheel is an RA on the first floor of Bigelow. His major is Chemistry with a minor in pre- pharmacy. This is Cole’s 6th semester as an RA.

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Faith Salentine is an RA on 4th floor Starin. Faith is a elementary education major with a minor in psychology. This is Faith’s 6th semester as an RA.

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All R.A. Floor

There is 2 weeks until Thanksgiving and then 2 weeks until Christmas. There are breaks that are on there way, but it is also easy to put everything off until later. Please work ahead and keep track of deadlines. Also November goes by fast because of Thanksgiving break, so please make sure you are working on RA programs and interact before the month is up.

There is a lot of value placed on connection in University Housing. The value of connecting with others is obviously important, especially connecting with residents. You as the RA are genuinely the main communicator for your residents. We want to make sure that they are able to succeed, and that everything is going well in their academic life, and in there personal life.
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Today’s blog isn’t much more but enjoy the 70 degree weather outside. Take your residents and study outside,  or just go on a walk by yourself or take a dog on a walk. It is really nice to be able to hang out outside in November.

At the beginning of August a few of our wonderful staff members were able to go to Student Affairs 101. A conference that focuses on helping young people enter the field of student affairs. If anyone is interested in the field of student affairs it will surly help in your decision making process. It also helps if you know that this is field your going into.

How to get residents to programs

It is not ground breaking, it’s hard to get residents to programs. Sometimes you have a better turn out with doing things just with your floor, but even that can be a struggle. In return this can be very frustrating on our side of the job. My first tip to you is to not worry, this is normal and this does NOT make you a bad RA. Below are just a few tips to get residents to my programs.

Always keep in mind the location of your program. Where I work, we use complexes, so there are two buildings per complex. One of the issues we have come across is getting people from one building to the other. The buildings I work in are a little far apart. In general if a building is hosting one program, we are most likely going to get residents from that perspective building. This is just something that we have come to terms with as an RA staff.

One tip and trick that we use is calling, especially diversity programs where we usually have a low turn out, programs by very interesting names. I did a program just a few days ago and called it “Let’s talk about the D”. It definitely caught residents attention and when they asked what it was, we told them come to find out. We had a fairly good turn out for the program being Thursday at 8:00pm but we definitely got people there for the name alone. In general be creative with titles of programs, one of the most creative program titles was for an alcohol awareness program, and we called it “Facts on Tap”.

The other trick is food. I know that many of us buy food anyway, but be creative with your choices. A popular choice for my staff is pizza rolls, there cheap and you get a lot of them, and they do not take long to bake in the oven or microwave. Ice cream, root beer floats, are another popular choice.

One thing to always keep in mind is dietary restrictions. If someone is allergic to dairy it really sucks coming to a program that only serves ice cream. I always try to pick a variety, such as fruit trays and vegetable trays.  I have never had a problem with extras, which is surprising but it is healthy food that people don’t get a lot of.

First thing I am going to talk about are Where Am I boards. If you haven’t heard of this, it is a board that helps tell your residents where you are. I have a picture example of mine and I absolutely love it. If you do not have access to a color copier or a lamination machine, you can always try using paint strips. On the paint strip you make a brief list of where you are and mark it with a paper clip. I find this particular craft really essential, because it is a simple way to communicate with your residents. Here are pictures of both.

I know that it is getting to be that time of year again, when everything just piles on you and you can just about freak out. Below is a list of 40 ways on how to relax that don’t take more than 5 minutes. If you would like further information on why these remedies help, you can follow the link that’ll take to the website where I got the information; http://greatist.com/happiness/40-ways-relax-5-minutes-or-less

1. Sip Green Tea
2. Eat a Square of Chocolate
3. Honey
4. Have a Mango
5. Chew Gum
6. Crunchy Snack
7. Meditate
8. Take a nap
9. Breathe
10. Try Progressive Relaxation
11. Count Backward
12. Use Creative Visualization
13. Close Your Eyes
14. Hand Massage
15. Acupressure (not acupuncture)
16. Rub Your Feet Over a Golf Ball
17. Squeeze a Stress Ball
18. Drip Cold Water on Your Wrists
19. Brush Your Hair
20. Be Alone
21. Create a Zen Zone
22. Find the Sun
23. Look Out the Window
24. Get organized
25. Yoga
26. Stretch
27. Run in Place
28. Take a Quick Walk
29. Write it Down
30. Listen to Your Favorite Song
31. Dance
32. Do a Crossword Puzzle
33. Smell some Flowers
34. Try Aromatherapy
35. Sniff Citrus
36. Nose Full of Coffee
37. Cuddle with a Pet
38. Laugh
39. Talk to a Friend
40. Start Planning a Vacation